INSULATION:
Despite the fact that #vanlife is so frequently adopted, we struggled to find tried-and-true ways to insulate in order to stay as warm as possible when traversing mountainsides in the deepest of pow. We saw some people gluing reflectix to their walls, which, as we came to understand, is ineffective (or at most, less effective) as you need space between the reflectix and the wall for it to do its job; saw some people lining their van with fiberglass insulation, which we didn’t feel comfortable being confined within, especially in such close quarters; and some people used spray-foam insulation, a more expensive route but definitely a viable option. However, aside from all the incongruencies, we found people were most consistently using furring strips as the base and styrofoam as the fillers, but the rest we had to improvise based on our cumulative little-to-no experience with remodeling.
What we gathered from the diverse information online is this:
fiberglass insulation is more toxic than rewarding.
styrofoam is the easiest/cheapest/sensible way to go, and more heat/cold is barred with the radiant barrier side upwards.
reflectix (when used properly with an air gap) will do the work that the styrofoam can’t.
caulk is necessary to A.) reinforce the styrofoam panels and B.) seal the cracks that could become problematic drafts in the future.
This isn’t necessarily tried-and-true either (yet), but as we pieced together various tactics blogged by other vanlifers, styrofoam and reflectix seemed to be a good (and affordable) team.
Altogether, we spent roughly $100 on insulation at home depot for the following materials:
2 tubes of caulk — $8.24
1 roll of Reflectix — $38.95
2 styrofoam boards — $25.16
8 1.375″ x 1.375″ x 96″ furring strip boards — $15.68
Self-drilling screws — $10.26
Reflectix foil tape — free (they didn’t ring it up hehe) but originally $3.35 each (for patching up the holes from the previous owners of the van who mutilated the floor with screws)
PRO TIPS:
Don't ask your doggo if he wants to go to the dog park. Doggo will confuse van for Jeep. Doggo will jump onto the insulation and refuse to get out without a fight, will rip your handiwork and make you tape it all up. Or, just buy extra foil tape knowing that the aforementioned events will occur regardless.
Do mark your screw points so that you don’t drill into your gas tank (Who would do that? Not sure. Definitely not us). However, if you do drill into your gas tank, use epoxy to seal the hole. Or, you could spend hours in various junkyards searching for the perfect replacement tank.